Self taught pianist – started playing piano at 3 – associated with Swing but composed some ballads including

Composed the music for Clint Eastwood's Play Misty for Me.

Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1993.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA in 1921, Erroll began playing piano at the age of 3. He played locally in the shadow of his older pianist brother Linton Garner and moved to New York in 1944. He briefly worked with the bassist Slam Stewart, and though not a bebop musician per se, in 1947 played with Charlie Parker on the famous Cool Blues session.

Garner's ear and technique owed as much to practice as to a natural gift. His distinctive style could swing like no other, but some of his best recordings are ballads, such as his best-known composition, Misty.

A small man, Garner was reputed to perform sitting on a Manhattan telephone directory.